What's happened to our supposed transfer policy?

[Legend10]

Just wondering what has happened to our supposed transfer policy that so many people have been complaining about and one of the reasons why levy is a crap chairman?

Haven't we been told repeatedly that Levy won't sanction the signing players over the age of 27 because of their inherent value?

This is the reason that we couldn't sign Distin even though he was a Bosman and Levy & Comolli were hungout to dry for that. And what about petrov? Well Levy would never paY £5 million for a 28 year old, would he?

Well the myth has been well and truly smashed this window.

Circa £7 million for a 28 year old, whether we sign Gilberto or not I think it's fairly clear that we are trying to get him in now whilst we have to pay a fee rather than waiting for a Bosman in the summer, and he is 31/32.

And before people say Ramos has forced them (Levy & Comolli) to do it they need to be realistic. Becauase senior managers don't push around PLC Directors and Chairman in any business and that includes football.

Levy has sanctioned the deals because he feels it is the right thing to do for the football club and will give us an increased chance of success which will also see its rewards on the accounts.

In Levy I trust!

 

[striebs]

In Levy you trust .

They want European football and a trophy and realise that the squad are very unlikely to beat Chelsea or win the UEFA cup without strengthening now - and Intertoto is no guarantee .

Simmilarly they now concede the squad needs a lot of personnel movement before it can mount a serious challenge for 4th and to minimimise the disruption do not want to bring them all in in one window .

I think that's why they are attempting to buy quality and leadership this window .

 

[eddiebailey]

And before people say Ramos has forced them (Levy & Comolli) to do it they need to be realistic. Becauase senior managers don't push around PLC Directors and Chairman in any business and that includes football.

If a company lays out a huge wedge to bring in a new top executive and then trumpets in the press about how he is the man to turn their business around, then they tend to take notice of what he has to say.

At the start of the season the Board were saying we had a squad to challenge for the top four. Ramos has come in and in no uncertain terms told them this is not the case, and that he can't deliver unless we bring in the players he wants. The Board have no choice but to back him or sack him. And if they sack him they look a complete bunch of clowns.

 

[sigurdl]

a right back for 9 mill. he better be bloody good..

 

[Legend10]

If a company lays out a huge wedge to bring in a new top executive and then trumpets in the press about how he is the man to turn their business around, then they tend to take notice of what he has to say.

At the start of the season the Board were saying we had a squad to challenge for the top four. Ramos has come in and in no uncertain terms told them this is not the case, and that he can't deliver unless we bring in the players he wants. The Board have no choice but to back him or sack him. And if they sack him they look a complete bunch of clowns.

Without being funny how do you know this?

And wern't people saying that Ramos was only recruited because he would be more attractive to investors who may consider buying the club?

My personal feling is that the policy is no different to what it was before.

 

[themanwhofellasleep]

Well, given that at the beginning of the season Levy said that the team should be in the Champions League sharpish, that would kinda indicate that he felt that we had a squad to challenge the top four.

Unless he believed that we didn't have a squad to challenge the top four, but felt that we could break into the top four through the use of voodoo and black magic.

 

[PYiddy]

Just wondering what has happened to our supposed transfer policy that so many people have been complaining about and one of the reasons why levy is a crap chairman?

Haven't we been told repeatedly that Levy won't sanction the signing players over the age of 27 because of their inherent value?

This is the reason that we couldn't sign Distin even though he was a Bosman and Levy & Comolli were hungout to dry for that. And what about petrov? Well Levy would never paY £5 million for a 28 year old, would he?

Well the myth has been well and truly smashed this window.

Circa £7 million for a 28 year old, whether we sign Gilberto or not I think it's fairly clear that we are trying to get him in now whilst we have to pay a fee rather than waiting for a Bosman in the summer, and he is 31/32.

And before people say Ramos has forced them (Levy & Comolli) to do it they need to be realistic. Becauase senior managers don't push around PLC Directors and Chairman in any business and that includes football.

Levy has sanctioned the deals because he feels it is the right thing to do for the football club and will give us an increased chance of success which will also see its rewards on the accounts.

In Levy I trust!

You dont know that for sure.
If we have changed our philosophy on signings, doesnt mean our previous structure was a myth.

 

[eddiebailey]

Without being funny how do you know this?

I know the Board said we had a squad to challenge for the top four because they said it. And it is a reasonable inference that Ramos disagrees because we of all the money we seem intent on spending during the January window.

I am sorry but I do not beileive we would have been chasing the same targets with the same determination if we did not have Ramos calling the shots.

 

[themanwhofellasleep]

I think the big difference is that Comolli was involved in appointing Ramos and knows that their fates are tied together. Therefore he is a lot more amenable to listening to what Ramos actually thinks about players, rather than just rushing out and spending a fortune on great "prospects".

 

[Legend10]

I know the Board said we had a squad to challenge for the top four because they said it. And it is a reasonable inference that Ramos disagrees because we of all the money we seem intent on spending during the January window.

I am sorry but I do not beileive we would have been chasing the same targets with the same determination if we did not have Ramos calling the shots.

Yeah i remember Levy saying we had a squad to challenge for the top 4, personally I think he was right.

Since ramos took over we are very close to CL form with 20 points from 12 games which is pro rata 63 points.

It's just my opinion that our policy hasn't changed and if it has relaxed at all then it's because ramos has demonstrated to the board in a way that Jol couldn't that the clubs money is better invested with him at the helm.

 

[Legend10]

You dont know that for sure.
If we have changed our philosophy on signings, doesnt mean our previous structure was a myth.

Your right I don't.

In exactly the same way that nobody on here knows what our structure has ever been.

 

[themanwhofellasleep]

I suspect that the relationship between Jol and Comolli is very different from the relationship between Ramos and Comolli.

Look at how both men ended up as managers. Jol was coaching at the club when Santini went awol and ended up taking charge. He didn't have a massive international reputation (although admired in Holland). He was promoted from within, and as such, I don't think he had that much clout. I certainly don't think he had Levy's ear to the same degree as Comolli did. So, if Comolli said that we should be pursuing a player and Jol disagreed, I suspect that Jol's opinions didn't count for much.

Contrast that with Ramos. Ramos was lured away from a big Spanish club with a massive reputation. He's won back-to-back UEFA cups and is considered one of the best coaches in Europe. More importantly, the club crawled over broken glass to get him. So I suspect that if he says he wants a player, or vetoes a player that Comolli recommends, everyone sits up and listens.

 

[Supersonic]

WHats happened to our policy? Its got better.

The policy of buying young players is still the same. Young and English/British.

Hutton is supposed to be world class, so there could be tasty future profit there.

And tbh if King cant play every week then failing to buy a new CB is suicidal. Woodgate is reaching his peak, English and a absolutely necessary player.

Gilberto will cost us 2mill tops, which really isnt much money if he brings an instant improvement to our first team

 

[Real_madyidd]

Just wondering what has happened to our supposed transfer policy that so many people have been complaining about and one of the reasons why levy is a crap chairman?

Haven't we been told repeatedly that Levy won't sanction the signing players over the age of 27 because of their inherent value?

That's the key though isn't it? We have never been told that by anyone official. In fact when Arnesen was DOF we were told that we would be having two teams, one for now and one for the future. Unfortunately they never actually gave Jol this, they just left him with the ones for the future and hoped they made it quickly. It seems Ramos has come in and been given what we all knew we needed (and Jol knew as well).

 

[SpurSince57]

Just wondering what has happened to our supposed transfer policy that so many people have been complaining about and one of the reasons why levy is a crap chairman?

Haven't we been told repeatedly that Levy won't sanction the signing players over the age of 27 because of their inherent value?

This is the reason that we couldn't sign Distin even though he was a Bosman and Levy & Comolli were hungout to dry for that. And what about petrov? Well Levy would never paY £5 million for a 28 year old, would he?

Well the myth has been well and truly smashed this window.

Circa £7 million for a 28 year old, whether we sign Gilberto or not I think it's fairly clear that we are trying to get him in now whilst we have to pay a fee rather than waiting for a Bosman in the summer, and he is 31/32.

And before people say Ramos has forced them (Levy & Comolli) to do it they need to be realistic. Becauase senior managers don't push around PLC Directors and Chairman in any business and that includes football.

Levy has sanctioned the deals because he feels it is the right thing to do for the football club and will give us an increased chance of success which will also see its rewards on the accounts.

In Levy I trust!

Not exactly. In fact, we haven't been told anything.

But whilst we might have signed players of 28 and above in the past three seasons, we certainly haven't forked out a big transfer fee and big wages for any of them. It's demonstrable fact, no myth.

A shame he didn't have this Paulian conversion in the summer, really. And a remarkable coincidence that, in the first window after Ramos' arrival, we've splashed out £20m to improve a squad that was allegedly top-four ready in August. And that's assuming we stop at Gunter, Woody, Hutton and Gilberto . The coach doesn't push the chairman around? Really? I'm sure an ultimatum along the lines of 'Get me the players to do the job or I'm off' would concentrate the Dear Leader's mind wonderfully.

Get real.

In Levy I trust. As far as I can spit.

 

[sloth]

The funny thing is a lot of us have been saying for a long time that we have no written in stone policy on buying young players - the likes of Lee, Rocha, Naybet and Berbatov should be proof of this - we've also said that if the right type of player came available and we thought there was value in his purchase we would buy him. We said this under Jol and we say it under Ramos.

We also said that Jol's sacking was inevitable for football reasons. We argued for it for football reasons and we denied that he was hamstrung by the clubs upper management. We said he was part of a buying committee and a structure that ensured he'd have one of the best squads in the country.

We also said we had a squad to challenge for the top four. Levy said it, Jol said in front of the WHL faithful at the end of last season, the press said, the experts said it, other managers have said it since, most of us thought it. In addition we had challenged for the top four in recent history. We didn't this season and we laid the blame at the feet of the coach. The apologists said it was due to the squad. Remarkably from a 'backward-sliding' start, Ramos has, with an injury ravaged squad, shown the potential we have.


The simple answer is what some of us have been saying from day one. Evidence backs one consistent argument. No jumping through hoops for some, no desperate contortions in order to make the facts fit the theory. It has been as we have said, what we predicted has been shown to have happened, the version we claimed has been supported by what has happened.

On the other side of the coin, you've got people with a known passion for a particular figure, an unwillingness to let go of their adoration and as a result a clear willingness to believe whatever is neccesary to fit their version of events.

In short, one side argues evolution the other the equivalent of Intelligent Design. One empirical the other faith.

 

[SpurSince57]

All fine and dandy, but it ignores one crashingly obvious point. Come Friday we'll have spent at least £20m improving the squad that was all set to challenge for fourth, assuming that Hutton and Gilberto are done deals. It could yet be a good deal more.

Which suggests what?

 

[N10toN17]

I'm delighted at our transfer policy.

Juande holds the hoops and Levy and his sidekick have to jump through them.

Juande has got them between a rock and a hard place, they've paid him top dollar to come to Spurs and they have to back him or it'll be them for the high jump, excellent.

 

[eddiebailey]

On the other side of the coin, you've got people with a known passion for a particular figure, an unwillingness to let go of their adoration and as a result a clear willingness to believe whatever is neccesary to fit their version of events.

It is not about being blinded by loyalty; it is about having the sense to see that, rather than assuming the grass is always greener, it is better to invest in lawnfeed.

I always had reservations about Jol, but they were as nothing compared to my reservations about our transfer policy. I certainly did not believe that our summer transfer activity had equipped us for a top four finish. (And I do not recall Jol saying it prior to the duress of that ridiculous statement issued by the club.)

If it was a question of appointing a new manger I would pick Ramos over Jol every time. However I thought Jol had done a decent, if unspectacular, job, with the resources avaialble to him, and that he should have been given the opportunity and resources to build on that. Rather than bringing in a new manager who would set back progress by ripping up the blueprint and starting again.

Ultimately however I think the appointment of Ramos has been a good thing - because he has given the Board the reality check they bloody well needed.

 

[yanno]

We also said that Jol's sacking was inevitable for football reasons. We argued for it for football reasons and we denied that he was hamstrung by the clubs upper management. We said he was part of a buying committee and a structure that ensured he'd have one of the best squads in the country.

We also said we had a squad to challenge for the top four. Levy said it, Jol said in front of the WHL faithful at the end of last season, the press said, the experts said it, other managers have said it since, most of us thought it. In addition we had challenged for the top four in recent history. We didn't this season and we laid the blame at the feet of the coach. The apologists said it was due to the squad. Remarkably from a 'backward-sliding' start, Ramos has, with an injury ravaged squad, shown the potential we have.

We can, and will, all go round and round on this one, and there are lots of unknowables. However, some things are pretty clear:

i) of the £40 million spent in the summer, only Bale has been an immediate success, and unfortunately he's now crocked. Bent has been unlucky in that we kept hold of Berba and Defoe, so he's had little game time to prove he's worth a place. But Kaboul, Boateng and Taarabt are patently not ready. This was obvious to Jol, and it's obvious to Ramos too, so our summer signings were not, overall, successful;

ii) Ramos has changed a lot of things behind the scenes, especially diet and fitness. But, visibly, he is a more tactically flexible coach than Jol, willing to change the system to accomodate the strengths and weaknesses of the players (eg his use of Zokora as an auxiliary defender, his inspired doubling up of Steed and O'Hara against Ronaldo, his belated recognition that Tainio is the nearest thing we have to Poulsen, his rejuvenation of players like Lennon and Jenas). On the evidence at Sevilla and so far at Spurs, I also think he's a fantastic game coach, willing to be bold and aggressive in his tactical and personnel switches.

So, my take is that we still spent the money badly in the summer. But Ramos is able to make better use of what we have. And if we can attract a couple more big players to the club - a Lucho Gonzalez for instance - then I'm much more optimistic of our chances of breaking into the Top Four than I was under Big Martin Jol (much as I will always respect him).

I also think Levy recognizes this, which is why he's sanctioned the expenditure of pretty big money on two very experienced players: Woodgate & Gilberto.